


Coterie of Two

by kayecho



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: 1980's, First Time Meeting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 13:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3938080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayecho/pseuds/kayecho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 1986. Harry Hart has only been an agent for 5 years, and Merlin, as we know him, has yet to find his place among the Kingsman. This is a story of these two men meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coterie of Two

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick taste and prologue of when Harry met Merlin. Rupert Greaves was the trainer from the original _Secret Service_ comic, and given that we weren't provided with a real name for Merlin, I adapted it accordingly. I hope we get a real name for him someday... but I also kind of appreciate the mystery.

Merlin was a grizzled old veteran. He had been with the Kingsman for what felt like centuries. He was tactics, training, evaluation. But his years were catching up to him. His old WWII era habits just could not keep up with the boom in technology. For every fancy new cellular telephone that was attempted to be introduced into the agency, Merlin would argue that there was nothing wrong with their radios.

So it came time to retire and replace him.

Rupert Greaves had been working with the growing information technology department for the elusive Kingsman since the introduction of IT to the agency. He was young. He knew computers, programming, hardware and software like the back of his hand. He had graduated top of his class at Strathclyde. He lived, slept, ate, breathed technology. His only weakness, however, was field operations.

Rupert despised it. Employment by the Kingsman meant passing basic ops training, and he managed, of course. He muddled through it, though, getting by with the bare minimum, enough to guarantee him a position. He was fresh out of university at the time, young, gangly, genius.

It had been 6 years since Rupert’s first day with Kingsman. 6 years and now he was a proposal for Merlin’s replacement. He was one of nine, one proposal for each active duty Kingsman. He was presented to the round table, lined up in a row with the other candidates, each one hand picked by Merlin himself. Some with long histories with the Kingsman, others were dedicated employees from various departments, and some still, were plucked from the outside.

Merlin, grizzled and old, and leaning on a cane, barked out his orders. “From here on out, you are _not_ who you used to be. I will assign each one of you to an agent, and you will be the eyes and ears of the man standing before you. If one of them is fails on their missions. If one of them is injured. If one of them dies, that burden is on your shoulders.”

Rupert bristled, looking at the faces staring back at them. They were generally men in their fifties, well groomed, handsome, but worn in their expressions. Decades of service to the King takes its toll on even the most aristocratic gentleman.

One by one, the candidates were distributed to the awaiting agents. One by one, the men were giving up their identities to become the shadows of these Kingsmen. 

Finally, Merlin turned to Rupert. “And you, Rupert, will be with Galahad. Two young bucks. I’d like to see how you’ll manage together.”

Rupert’s eyes locked onto the only agent that looked about his own age. His skin was pristine, smooth, his eyes youthful, his hair dark, curly, but perfectly coifed. He had a handsome, strong jaw, a slightly cleft chin, and a thin gracefulness to his stance. Rupert knew the code name: Galahad. His eyebrows lifted just slightly.

The agent approached. “I look forward to working with you, Rupert was it?” He held a hand out. 

Rupert grasped the hand, giving it a firm shake. “Yes, and I’m familiar with you. Harry Hart, recent recruit, in comparison. 26 years old. Replaced a rather old, veteran Kingsman. And also a thorn in our side.”

“Your side?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“I’m from Information Technology. You communicate with us quite often. You have many complaints about our services. You think our technology is out of date, and you’re constantly trying to utilize your own devices in our system. Whether you like it or not, Harry, it is not compatible. Yet.” Rupert twisted his lips into an amused sort of smirk.

An amused expression blossomed on Harry’s face. “I see.”

Merlin interrupted them then. The Kingsman were still Kingsman; they had jobs to do, and could no longer linger as they bonded with their new intel partners. Rupert watched Harry start to whisk away, and he felt a sense of dread wash over him. He fumbled in his pockets.

“Wait.” Rupert reached out; grabbed Harry by the arm; gave it a squeeze. “Be careful.”

“I always am.”

Rupert pulled away. He squeezed his hand into a fist a few times, before putting his hands back into his pockets. In his gut, he knew Harry was good enough to realize that he had been traced. It was simple, a tiny little spec of a device that would allow him to keep tabs on his agent. It’s what Merlin said, wasn't it? From here on out, he was Harry’s eyes and ears. If something were to happen to Harry, it would be on his head and his conscience.


End file.
